General aviation pilot reported a NMAC during cruise. Pilot made an evasive maneuver and continued with the flight.

Date: 2026-01 · Aircraft: Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: conflict-nmac

Synopsis

General aviation pilot reported a NMAC during cruise. Pilot made an evasive maneuver and continued with the flight.

Narrative

When I was on a Cross Country flight from ZZZ to Zephyrhills ZPH I noticed on my Stratux device there was an airplane approaching me from 500 feet above my right wing. I was calling Tampa Approach on 119.9 right as the incident happened to get flight following to ZPH. I noticed the approaching airplane on the my Fore-Flight app linked to my Stratux device. When I called Tampa Approach the controller gave me the radar contact confirmation they pointed out the traffic. When I couldn't see the traffic visually; I could see it on my ForeFlight app I made a tactical clearing turn to left in the direction the plane was going. My goal was to try and get a visual on the airplane flying by while doing my best to stay safe from the oncoming traffic. The airplane was descending aggressively towards my flight path as I was on easterly heading and the other plane was on a northerly heading. I safely made a left turn towards the north to try and get visual of the airplane and then continue my left turn to evasively maneuver away from the plane. ATC did comment about my turn and then they realized as I continued my left turn more I was maneuvering away from the airplane. I completed a 360 degree turn and the traffic went on still descending at a rapid rate. The controller had no further comments about the issue after I completed the turn and flight following resumed as normal back to ZPH. There was a lot of traffic out during the day and I made every attempt to safely see and avoid all the traffic around me. On the leg from ZZZ to ZPH I was cruising at 3;500 feet.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.